A French ferry set sail Monday from Algiers to Marseilles (Bouches-du-Rhône), ensuring the first maritime connection for the transport of passengers between the two countries since the suspension of crossings in mid-March due to the pandemic from Covid-19.
The Danielle Casanova of the private company Corsica Linea left the port of Algiers at 4:10 p.m. French time, with 970 passengers and 427 vehicles on board, according to the harbor master's office.
With a capacity of 2,400 passengers and able to board up to 700 vehicles, the boat arrived empty in Algiers the same morning from Marseille. He is expected in Marseille at midday on Tuesday.
Throughout the morning, the ship embarked expatriates and Algerians living in France, stranded in Algeria for almost three months by travel restrictions due to the health crisis.
In order to comply with sanitary standards and rules of distancing, the Corsica Linea only sold places in cabins, in which passengers will be confined during the crossing. Restaurants and bars on board will remain closed but the crew has distributed sandwiches and drinks to passengers.
New routes Sunday and Tuesday
The "Danielle Casanova", commissioned in 2002, must provide two similar services Sunday and Tuesday, according to the harbor office. Other connections are planned in the first half of June.
Algeria has closed its maritime borders since March 19, the date on which an Algerian ferry had ensured a final crossing between France and Algeria. The "Tariq Ibn Ziad", of the company Algeria Ferries, had then repatriated to Algeria from Marseille about 1,700 people, trapped in France by the pandemic.
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In addition, the implementation of repatriation flights has been accelerating for several days in both directions, provided in particular by the national airline Air Algeria. Since the closure of Algerian airspace on March 17, Air France has organized special flights from Algiers which have enabled more than 6,000 people to return to France, according to the French Embassy in Algeria.
Low cost flights
The airline ASL Airlines France organizes several return flights from Algiers, Annaba (northeast of Algeria) and Bejaïa (east), bound for Paris and Lyon (central France), from this Monday and until June 8, according to a program posted on the company's website.
And Air France-KLM's low-cost subsidiary, Transavia France, will soon be offering special flights from Algeria, according to the French consulate general in Algiers.
In total, as of May 26, more than 350 special flights have made it possible to repatriate 56,000 French nationals from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, according to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including 8,000 for Algeria alone.
But faced with the large number of French people still stranded, Paris decided last week to strengthen air and sea links to these three Maghreb countries in order to be able to repatriate 15,000 additional nationals.
